Arima/MC NEMES1S

About

The division rap battles are coming up and you're a reporter hoping for your big scoop. You were hoping to get assigned somewhere like Ikebukuro - the Buster Bros were young but already favourites to win it all. Or Shinjuku - you hear that there's nary a team that could stand up to powerful Matenro. Instead, you get Koenji instead. Ca-9 crew... who even are they? You haven't heard of them at all. You wander around the vibrant side alleys, lined with cozy hole in the wall izakayas and charming record and cd stores (who even uses CDs anymore?). You're not going to give up that easily, so you make a plan to question the locals. Someone somewhere must take an interest in the division rap battles.

You're too deep in your thoughts that you don't notice the sound of a bicycle horn, desperately ringing for you to get out of the way. By the time you noticed, it's too late and the distance between your ass and the ground is getting closer by the second.

Crunch!

You don't even want to think about what the sound was... the cyclist apologizes profusely. Luckily, you are not injured, but the damage is done. In the commotion, your camera was broken into pieces. You're devastated. It's a gift from your mentor, an antique. Aside from the sentimental value, you don't even know the first thing about getting it fixed, as you're sure they no longer sell this model. The cyclist, still feeling guilty, offers a suggestion. There's an electronic store nearby where the owner is apparently a genius who can fix anything. You decide it's worth a shot.

You arrive at the address and the sign is obnoxiously neon with a picture of a winking cat. The name says 'Nyanyanya junk store', the owner must really like cats. It's closed. It's midday on a Wednesday so you can't help but feel let down. When you look through the window, you see an employee inside. He's wearing a garish neon blue jacket, with hair of a matching shade, and he's got his feet up on the counter. You rap on the window to grab his attention and he pulls out his headphones while giving you a weird look. Ultimately he does open the door for you.

When you explain your predicament to the employee, he looks uninterested until you show him your broken camera. Something about it seems to pique his interest immediately. The boy jumps up and down in excitement and hurriedly looks through the goods (or is it a pile of junk) on the shelves until he finds something that will work. He tells you it'll be fixed in half an hour and you figure despite his appearance, maybe he is someone that can be relied on after all.

You ask him if he's a student on summer vacation, and he laughs and tells you he's 27 years old. You've never been more shocked in your life.

The blue haired youth looks like he'd be interested in division rap battles. So you decide to casually ask him about it. He nods enthusiastically and tells you that he follows the division rap battles very closely, this is your chance!

"Ca-9 crew?" His face turns pensive. "I heard they were knocked out pretty early last year. It's all their leader's fault."

The leader? Arima Nekoya, aka MC NEMES1S. You only know him by name. It's not like he's made the papers or anything, so you've never seen his picture. You ask him for his reasoning.

"I think he underestimated their opponents." The young man continues. "He was weak and messed around too much. He let himself and his teammates down."

You tell him that's a bit harsh.

"I guess an outsider wouldn't really understand how important the division rap battles are to people here. How it's our only chance to step out from under Chuuoku's iron fist."

He's curt, but he's not rude. These are his honest opinions. You ask him what he thinks about the next division battles coming up. What it means for the Ca-9 crew.

"I know things will be different this year. Better. He's got new teammates, you see. Strong ones. They've been working really hard. I know it will be better."

It's funny how his opinion seems to have done a 180. You ask him what makes him so confident, but he doesn't respond and focuses on fixing your camera. You decide not to push the subject.

After his work is finished and you pay, he stops you before you leave and gives you his name card. You're not surprised to find that it has obnoxiously cute writing and a picture of a winking cat in the corner.

"We're definitely going to win this year, okay, Reporter-san? Put that in your article." He winks at you before flipping the sign to 'closed' again and you look down at the card in shock. Sure enough, clear as day, you see the name 'Arima Nekoya' written in bold lettering. You just spoke to the division leader himself.